Cutting die



Sept. 17. 1940. G. w. nAMB CUTTING DIE Filed Juna 1v, 1939 /NVENTUQ Patented Sept. 17, 1940 UNiTEo STATE-.s

CUTTING DIE George W. Lamb, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application .I une 17, 1939, Serial No. 279,707

6 Claims.

This invention relates to dies and more particularly to dies commonly known as pattern dies, typical examples of which are illustrated in United States Letters Patent No. 2,124,591, granted July 26, 1938upon application led in the name of George F. Ryan.

Dies of the type referred to are commonly used to produce blanks, such as shoe-part blanks, from sheet material of leather or fabric by means of a press comprising a cutting block and a presser arm which is movable laterally by hand into p0- sition over a die located upon the material on the support and then downwardly by poweroperated means to force the die through the material. initiate a power-operation of the presser arm, while it is moving laterally above the die. The result of this is that the die is struck a glancing blow which is particularly objectionable when the die is narrow, as is the case of dies used for cutting straps for womens shoes. A glancing blow, such as mentioned, when delivered widthwise of the die tends to overturn it or to drive one side of it deeply into the cutting block. This frequently results in defective blanks, broken dies, or in loss of time on the part of an operator in removing the deeply embedded die from the cutting block.

In View of the foregoing, it is an object of the invention to provide a die of the type referred to which is simple and economical in construction, but which at the same time will be effectively supported against forces tending to overturn it.

To this end, and as illustrated, I provide a die having a projection extending laterally of the blade thereof for holding the die with its cutting edges substantially normal to the surface upon which the die rests. Preferably, the projection is integral with the core of the die and extends through a slot in the blade, thereby affording a construction which can be readily assembled.

These and other features of the invention will be apparent from the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and are pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing, f

Fig. l is a perspective view of a die embodying a preferred form of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the die of Fig. l.

The illustrative die shown in the drawing is intended for use in cutting straps for womens shoes. The die comprises a double edged blade il! bent about a narrow core I2, which has a lateral projection I4 lextending through a slot I6 It often happens that the operator will in the blade. The blade has oppositely disposed cutting edgesk I8 and 2i! and laterally extending fianges 22.` In assembling the blade and core, it is to be noted that the projection B4 is first forced through the slot l5 and then the blade lll is bent outwardly from the projection in both directions along the periphery of the body portion of the core I2 with the anges 22 engaging opposite faces thereof, after which the flanges are spot welded to the core and the ends of the blade are butt welded, as indicated at 23.

In order to strip blanks from the die, I have provided `inserts 24, preferably of sponge rubber, located within the peripheries of the cutting edges I8 and 2li and extending outwardly on opposite sides of the core. The material of these inserts is sufciently light, that it does not interfere with the cutting action of the die, that is, the inserts during the pressure-applying operation upon the edges of the die will retreat entirely within the die. v

The outer end of the projection I4 is provided with an opening 26, in which is located a plug 28 of resilient material, such as rubber, having portions 29 which extend beyond the faces of the projection on opposite sides thereof. The outer faces of the plug project a suflicient distance beyond the projection to position the die with its cutting edges substantially normal to the support. Since the die, when in position upon work to be operated on, rests entirely upon one or another of the stripper members 24 and one of the faces 29 of the plug, no metal is brought into contact with the work, which is advantageous in preventing injury to delicate materials.

In use, the die is placed upon sheet material which it is desired to cut, and a presser member is brought over and down upon the die to force it through the material. Because of the supporting structure, including the projection I4 and the plug 28, the die will be maintained in position with its cutting edges substantially normal to the material upon which it rests before and during the pressure-applying operation. As pressure is applied, the stripper members 24 will retreat into the die and the plug 28 will be gripped between the presser member and the support in such a way as to prevent rocking of the die about its axis. When the pressure is relieved and the die is removed, th-e lowermost of the two stripper members 24 will eject the cut blank.

Having described myinvention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A die comprising a core, a blade extending along the periphery of the core and secured thereto, and a lateral projection forming a unitary part of the core for supporting the die against forces tending to overturn it.

2. A die comprising a core, the periphery of which corresponds to the shape of that of a narrow blank which it is desired to cut by the die, a blade extending along the periphery of` the core and secured thereto, the blade having an elongated slot therein, a projection on the core extending through the slot widthwise of the die, and a resilient plug carried by the projection.

3. A die comprising a blade having a body portion shaped to correspond to the periphery of a narrow blank to be cut and terminating in oppositely disposed cutting edges, a projection extending outwardly from the blade along a plane located between the cutting edges, and a resilient member carried by the projection and having portions extending heightwise of the cutting edges for maintaining the die with the blade thereof substantially normal to the support.

4. A die comprising a blade shaped to correspond to the periphery of a blank totbe cut, an

arm projecting laterally from the blade, and means for supporting the blade with its cutting edge extending substantially normal to a support and comprising resilient members, one of which is positioned within the blade and the other of which is carried by the arm.

5. A die comprising a blade having a body portion shaped to correspond to the periphery of a blank to be cut and terminating in oppositely disposed cutting edges, .a projection extending outwardly from the blade between the cutting edges, and a resilient member carried by the projection yand having portions extending heightwise of the projection in opposite directions to support the die with either of its cutting edges upwardly disposed.

6. A die comprising a core, a blade extending along the periphery of the core and having oppositely disposed cutting edges, a projection forming part of the core and extending outwardly from the blade between the cutting edges, and a lresilient member extending heightwise of the projection on opposite sides thereof for supporting the die with either of its cutting edges upwardly disposed.

GEORGE W. LAMIB. 

